LAD right fielder Lee Jung-hoo's 176.4 km bullet hit made him confused. It's a double

Mar 02, 2025

Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants hits a superior double with one out and third base in the top of the first inning in an away exhibition game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 2nd (Korea time). AP Yonhap News

LA Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernandez looks despondent after failing to catch Lee Jung-hoo's bullet-like ball in the top of the first inning and making an RBI double. Photo = MLB.TV Capture

Now, the power to leave No. 3 is coming out.

San Francisco Giants' Lee Jung-hoo made a multi-hit and continued his good batting early in the spring training.

Lee Jung-hoo played as the third center fielder in an away exhibition game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Glendale Camelback Ranch in Arizona on the 2nd (Korea time) and swung two hits and one RBI from three times at bat. Lee Jung-hoo, who played his first multi-hit game in five games in this spring training, marked a batting average of 0.333 (4 hits in 12 at-bats), one home run, two RBIs, three runs, two walks, four strikeouts, an on-base percentage of 0.467, a slugging percentage of 0.667, and an OPS of 1.134.

He hit a superior double in his first at-bat with one out and third base in the top of the first inning and scored an RBI. With a ball count of 1B1S, Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer pulled a slider in the middle of the third pitch of 85.1 miles and hit a big ball to the right.

The ball that flew so fast that Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernandez couldn't judge the ball properly flowed to the fence after the one-bound. The line drive hit flew 370 feet at a launch angle of 19 degrees and a batting speed of 109.6 miles (176.4 kilometers). With Lee Jung-hoo's double, third baseman Grant McCray homered and scored the first run.

When Lee Jung-hoo swung and missed the second pitch after a one-ball in his first at-bat in the top of the first inning, his helmet came off and he is rolling around near the at-bat. ImagesYonhap News

Local broadcasters said Hernandez turned to find the ball. Earlier, Lee Jung-hoo took a swing where his helmet came off, and Hernandez may have wanted it to come off again in that way"I think it'll be a double that gives Lee Jung-hoo an RBI single (not a mistake)," he said. Lee Jung-hoo swung wide enough to take off his helmet on the second pitch just before the double, which means Hernandez may have wanted such a swing.

In the third inning with a 2-0 lead, Lee Jung-hoo hit a right-handed hit and connected the chance to the first and second bases. On one strike, Sauer pulled a splitter in the middle of 82.8 miles on his second pitch, sending a clean hit past second baseman Devide Bottie and falling in front of right fielder Hernandez. The launch angle was 7 degrees and the batting speed was 90.6 miles.

San Francisco created a full base chance with Casey Schmidt hitting an infield hit to shortstop in the continued opportunity with two outs and runners on the first and second bases, but Lee Jung-hoo was not able to advance further because David Villa struck out swinging.

Lee Jung-hoo struck out after two outs in the fifth inning with a 2-1 lead. He was declared a "Batter Pitch Timer Violation" by a batter on two strikes. According to the pitch timer rule, if there is no runner, the batter must be ready to hit until eight seconds remain. Lee Jung-hoo did not prepare to hit on time. Lee Jung-hoo was replaced in defense at the bottom of the sixth inning with a 3-2 lead.

Lee Jung-hoo hits a right-handed hit in the third inning and advanced to second base on a follow-up hit, talking with Kim Hye-sung. AP Yonhap News

Lee Jung-hoo will move his batting order to No. 3 this season. The reason why head coach Bob Melvin puts Lee Jung-hoo at the centerline is, of course, maximizing his scoring ability. Lamont Wade Jr., who is considered to have a good on-base percentage, will be the new leadoff, followed by No. 2 Willy Adames, No. 3 Lee Jung-hoo, No. 4 Matt Chapman and No. 5 Eliot Ramos will be placed on the centerline. In other words, he is counting on Lee Jung-hoo's ability to guess.

He ended the season with a left shoulder injury in May last year, but he announced that he would use it as the third batter when he was trained in spring with a healthy body due to perfect rehabilitation.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers won 6-5, with Kim Hye-sung scoring one hit and three runs from two times at bat, including his first home run in spring training. On this day, 12,340 fans gathered at Camelback Ranch, recording the highest number of spectators in this Dodgers spring training.